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Top 10 Allosauroids
By Cougarcat Note: This is a Top Ten List, the way the list is arranged is purely opinion. You may not agree with the way the list is organized, however if you made your own than other people would not necessarily agree with your opinion either. So opinion is honored on these lists. Do not duplicate lists, however you can go ahead and make your own about something else. Just remember, you aren't allowed to edit these because the creator may have different opinions than you. Allosauroids grew beyond Allosaurus, Carcharodontosaurs grew possibly larger than any other predatory dinosaur, while Megaraptorans have produced some of the most incredible dinosaur genre. These predators dominated nearly every continent and kept the size of the Tyrannosaurs down. Some of these amazing animals stand out from the others. We assembled a list of ten of the largest, most specialized, significant, most famous, and most important of these animals. We hope you enjoy it... 10th- Neovenator Neovenator is one of the larger predatory dinosaurs from Europe, with an upper size of possibly 10 meters. However, when it comes to size, which is often estimated using weight, Neovenator probably wasn't that big. With a very slender and gracile build, the muscle mass would not be as much as many other Allosauroids. However, this was actually a specialization, because it most likely hunted faster, lighter prey. ] ] ] ] ] 9th- Tyrannotitan Despite the name, Tyrannotitan is no Tyrannosaur. Instead it is a Carcharodontosaur, bigger than Tyrannosaurus. This group of huge dinosaurs has produced multiple genre that most likely grew larger than Tyrannosaurus. However, apart from size, Tyrannotitan has no serious specialization discovered to date that would put it higher than all of the other predators on this list. ] ] ] ] ] ] ] 8th- Chilantaisaurus The aforementioned Neovenator grew only to the size of an Allosaurus, however, Chilantaisaurus may have grown to nearly as large as Tyrannosaurus. Although some consider it to be larger, it was only similar in size, and probably only around half the weight because of its more gracile build. It did make this list because it is easily one of the larger Neovenatorids. It is interesting that a relative of Neovenator grows this large. It may have hunted larger prey, or there was a greater abundance of food. Still, it is slightly marked down on the list because much smaller size estimates exist for this animal. ] ] ] ] ] 7th- Megalosaurus Megalosaurus is significant because it was the very first dinosaur ever to be named. Despite this, it has lost quite a bit of fame to the all-eclipsing Tyrannosaurus. However, it is still very significant, and its level of importance has to be very high. Significance is slightly lower because it was not incredibly specialized and became a 'wastebasket taxon', a genus that many other predatory dinosaurs were assigned to based some subliminal similarities. It is also a little lower on specialization. ] ] ] ] ] ] 6th- Siats There has been some debate as to whether Siats was a Carcharodontosaur or a Megaraptoran. If it was a megaraptoran, it may well have been the largest megaraptor of all time. It was one of possibly only three dinosaurs that grew over four meters in height (the others being Saurophaganax and Giganotosaurus). This would give it some specialization, because although the other megaraptorans were fairly large they were not big enough to rival Siats. It also lived at the beginning of the Cretaceous in the United States, and it may have helped keep the Tyrannosaurs' size down while it lasted. Its name comes from a monster in Ute Native American mythology. Although some believe it did get to as large as some size estimates put it, the holotype was only as large as an Allosaurus, however it was presumed to be a juvenile. If not, Siats would really not be very large. Also it had a more gracile build than many of the other large predators. ] ] 5th- Carcharodontosaurus Some even regard Carcharodontosaurus as being the largest dinosaur of all time, even larger than Giganotosaurus. Although this may not be correct, especially because the exact size of the animal is unknown, it was still very large. Many think it was larger than Tyrannosaurus, some size estimates put its weight at 7 tonnes. It was one of two massive predators discovered on Ernst Stromer's legendary mission to Africa, the other being Spinosaurus. ] ] ] ] ] 4th- Allosaurus Allosaurus was an incredible predator, and a list of the top ten Allosauroids would be rather incomplete without it. Many Jurassic predators such as Saurophaganax seem to be modeled after this apex predator, and some have even suggested that Saurophaganax is merely a species of Allosaurus, or perhaps even, although unlikely, a very well fed individual (this is the reason why Saurophaganax was not put on this list). Although not as large as the Cretaceous predators, Allosaurus was big for its time. Also, one specimen nicknamed 'Big Al' was found at a staggering 97% complete. Many experts think that this dinsoaur could run over 50 km'h, whereas it would be surprising if Tyrannosaurus could run over 20 km/h at best for reasons that will not be discussed here. Allosaurus may have even had small horns that it could have used ot ram prey. It also, as many experts think, could use its mouth like a 'hatchet' so it would not need a very powerful bite. 3rd- Mapusaurus Of all the dinosaur finds of the 21st century, Mapusaurus, along with Yutyrannus and several others, are possibly the most significant. Yutyrannus showed that very large predators can grow feathers. Mapusaurus showed something equally alarming. Growing nearly as large as Tyrannosaurus, it was easily one of the largest predatory dinosaurs. However, a find highly suggests that these were pack hunters. This proves a number of things. First, at least some large predatory dinosaurs may have in fact hunted in packs. Second, which is a result of the first, many herbivores were now potential prey. This was reconstructed in the documentary series Planet Dinosaur. Lastly, many had previously believed that large Carcharodontosaurs, specifically Giganotosaurus, were scavengers as some did not believe they had sufficient musculature to run down prey. If Mapusaurus hunted in packs, its close relatives may too, and pack hunting scavengers are very rare. This may perhaps have shot down the speculation that these predators were scavengers. 2nd- Acrocanthosaurus Mapusaurus' pack hunting techniques may have suggested that predators were capable of taking out the huge Sauropods, however Acrocanthosaurus has more hard evidence to back up this theory. As a huge predator, half a tonne larger than Mapusaurus, it was a very capable predator, but it seems very small to the 30+ tonne Sauroposeidon. Fossil evidence suggests that this predator attacked Sauroposeidon, and there is a lot of evidence here. There was definitely a predator/prey relationship between the two. This has revealed much about what the large Carcharodontosaurs ate, and the fact that the extinctin of the large Sauropods from North America coincides with Acrocanthosaurus' demise backs this up even more. The hump on Acrocanthosaurus' back is somewhat of a mystery, it may have been used for fat storage or display. Perhaps even a mixture of the two. ] ] ] 1st- Giganotosaurus Giganotosaurus made world headlines for being larger than Tyrannosaurus. This theory has come under more scrutiny recently, and it has in fact been confirmed that this predator was larger. An upper estimate of length would be 14 meters, possibly even 15 meters. Today, because it was very complete, many experts consider it to be the largest ever predatory dinosaur. Spinosaurus may have been larger, but has been downsized in recent years, and its size is still not certain. Giganotosaurus may have also hunted Argentinosaurus in packs, as was reconstructed in Chased by Dinosaurs. In that documentary, they even hunted in packs like Mapusaurus. In terms of size, specialization, significance, and importance, Giganotosaurus is clearly very high on this list, and this time it got #1.Category:Mesozoic Category:Predatory dinosaur Category:Predator Category:Carcharodontosaur Category:Carcharodontosauria Category:Cretaceous Category:Jurassic Category:Jurassic Dinosaur Category:Dinosaurs from south america Category:Europe Category:Dinosaurs from Europe Category:Terrestrial Category:Top Ten Lists